Friday, January 30, 2015

Assemblyman majority leader Joe Morelle has removed his name for consideration for Speaker.
Despite his scheming, scamming and backstabbing, he didn't get enough support from the downstate Democrats to win that office.
Morelle didn't get support from his arch enemy David Gantt, either.
Nobody thought that he would.
Gantt and his crew should be letting out some rousing cheers.
They are incapable of being constructive, but they can destroy.
They see this as sufficient.
Which is why the Rochester Democrats are in such a mess.
Morelle, Gantt and their respective gangs have irrevocably split Rochester's Democrats over the years into two antagonistic factions.
Each is unwilling to work with the other.
Both desire the other's conquest and conversion.
Given this, Morelle as Speaker could not be seen as a unifying force because he wasn't one in his own backyard.
Morelle did get the support of Rochester's daily newsrag, the D&C.
It is sometimes referred to as the "Demogogue and Comicon."
The D&C recently ran their editorial opinion that the downstate Democrats were "arrogant."
Arrogant, perhaps, but there are more of them than upstate Democrats.
The D&C doesn't cut any ice with them.
Come to think of it, they don't cut much ice with the few thinking individuals left in Rochester.
The position of Speaker was beyond Morelle's grasp.
Morelle has come to that bitter conclusion, and has stood down for consideration as the permanent Speaker.
Of course, why should we take Morelle at his word?

Thursday, January 29, 2015

If Molly Clifford thought that she would be the only candidate running in the northwest district's city council race, she was mistaken.
Pam Davis from the Lyell-Otis Neighborhood Association is mulling over running in that race as a Republican.
Dorothy Paige from the Jay Street area, one of the poorest sections of the city, is running as the Green Party candidate.
There is no word that Andreas Rau, from the Maplewood Neighborhood Association, will be running.
Rau's candidacy is a distinct possibility.
Davis and Rau have long been active in their neighborhood associations.
They have lived in their respective neighborhoods for decades.
Clifford only moved to the northwest district last year to meet the residency requirements for such a run.
Clifford has no real connection to that quadrant, apart from the fact she grew up in in Maplewood.
She left Maplewood decades ago.
Clifford will undoubtedly get the designation from the northwest Democrats as their candidate, since her clique controls that committee.
That would make her the party favorite.
If Rau runs, it would force a Democratic primary election for that office.
Duffy and the current mayor. Lovely Warren, were not the party favorites. The primary elections in both of those cases guaranteed their victories later on.
In the case of Mayor Warren, Clifford paid no attention to her victory at the primary.
Undoubtedly, Clifford would like to avoid a Democratic primary, in case history repeats itself.
Rau remains silent on the subject of running. For now.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

It looks like Joe Morelle will get what he has schemed and scammed for.
Sort of.
Morelle will be interim Speaker until February 10, when there will be an election for a permanent Speaker.
Silver will step down as Speaker at that time while remaining a part of the Assembly.
Morelle didn't get enough support from downstate Democrats for the permanent appointment.
Downstate politicians control New York State Government.
Several downstate Democrats have already entered the fray to become permanent Speaker.
It looks as though Morelle isn't as influential as he thinks he is.. He will have to content himself with play acting at being Speaker for two weeks.
He won't be content with that.
What of the local Assemblymen?
Morelle's ally, Harry Bronson, said that Morelle would be a wonderful choice for permanent Speaker.
Bronson, like Morelle, was also in bed with Silver.
David Gantt, Morelle's worst enemy, has remained silent. At least the media hasn't reported his opinions on the matter.
What is clear is that Gantt couldn't prevent Morelle's temporary appointment as Speaker.
Gantt really doesn't cut much ice outside of Rochester's ghettoes, where he reigns supreme as power broker in the black community.
It is also clear that Morelle will attempt to make his appointment permanent.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

First, whatever happens to Sheldon Silver will not affect anyone in New York State other than politicians.
Second, most people are probably more amused than outraged by all of the twists and turns of this pathetic political plot.
Last week, when Silver was arrested, Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle announced his undying loyalty and support for Shelly.
That went without saying.
Morelle and Silver have been in bed together for years, figuratively speaking.
This week, Morelle has been busily garnering downstate support for his becoming Speaker over Silver's political corpse.
So much for Morelle's support for and confidence in Silver.
The first problem is the corpse isn't dead yet.
Despite his arrest, Silver is still the Speaker of the Assembly.
He attempted to act as such on Monday, despite the fact that now most Democrats want him out.
That's quite a change from last week.
But Silver has not indicated that he will resign.
And the plan to allow him to remain Speaker while the power was to be shared by five Democrats was always out of la la land.
What is in the water in Albany, anyway?
The second problem is that nobody knows of any procedure to force Silver out of office while he is awaiting his trial.
If it is a speedy trial, and Silver is convicted, he will have to relinquish his position.
It won't be.
Silver is a high profile felon, not a mere street thug, which justice usually handles swiftly.
The legal briefs alone that his defense will present will take years to write up.
And Silver wants to stick around to be the longest serving Speaker in New York State history.
That's a year away
But Morelle wants the position badly enough to seek his old friend, ally and political bedmate's removal to acquire it.
That is the unkindest cut of all.
And that is the way of the political world.
Some people believe in Karma. What goes around comes around.
Does Morelle?

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Mayor Warren's newly appointed head of communications closed the book on her Facebook scandal yesterday.
James Smith ruled that Mayor Warren didn't make the statements about the homeless that were attributed to her on her Facebook page in December.
He ruled that the numerous staffers who had the access code to her page didn't do it, either.
He further stated that the IT experts couldn't find the culprit.
Nobody knows who did it.
This is bullshit.
Smith's statements are almost verbatim quotes of Mayor Warren's comments, who conducted her own "investigation" in December.
He is being paid to repeat what the mayor has already said. That's why she hired him.
What was the point?
It is doubtful that Mayor Warren is actively involved in her Facebook page. She is a busy woman, and has paid staffers to do it for her.
But we are not supposed to know that.
Those half a dozen or so paid staffers are among her nearest and dearest. If they don't share her idioms, they are at least familiar enough with them to duplicate them.
Moreover, most of her staff are paranoid about any criticism of the mayor. The remarks made on Facebook reflect their Nixon White House mentality, and are completely plausible.
I believe the mayor knows who did it.
That's why she resorted to the lie that her Facebook page was hacked, and why Smith has effectively ( or ineffectively ) reiterated her claim.
Had the guilty party been exposed and punished, it would have been reported in the media in a second.
It would also have confirmed the widespread belief that the mayor doesn't answer everything sent to her.
Most elected officials don't, either, but Mayor Warren and her cheerleading squad like to claim that she does.
The outcome of Smith's investigation has not restored the mayor's credibility. That ship sailed last year, never to return.
It did produce a new policy regarding city employees.
When commenting on social media, they must identify themselves as city employees, and that their comments are their own, and not to be confused with city policy.
Or else, what?
None of the mayor's crew would dare to openly make statements criticizing her policies. Their 6 figure incomes would be at jeopardy.
As for the new head of communications: James Smith is best known for having beaten the rap for his involvement in the Robutrad scandal a few years ago.
That, too, came to a wholly unsatisfactory conclusion.
Smith has found his spiritual home in the Warren Administration.

Friday, January 23, 2015

"Waltzing Matilda" is the unofficial national anthem of Australia.
It is about a sheep rustler who, when caught, chooses suicide over going to prison.
"Waltzing Matilda" is Australian slang for being sent to jail.
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested yesterday by the FBI and charged with federal corruption.
When Silver went waltzing Matilda, he whined that he hoped he would be vindicated.
When most people are arrested, they scream that they are innocent. Silver didn't do that.
The response from the political parties was immediate. And true to form.
Silver has been the bête noir of the Republicans for decades. They called for his immediate resignation. They also hinted at bi-partisan support for Joe Morelle to become Speaker.
Joe Morelle, majority leader in the state assembly, claimed that he spoke for most Democrats and pledged his support for Silver.
He probably meant it, for now.
Morelle will probably wait until the air clears a bit before grabbing for it.
What David Gantt and his associates would do about that eventuality is anyone's guess. While Gantt might hate Morelle and his gang, he doesn't have that much influence locally beyond the ghetto.
But then, we are talking about Albany.
Corruption in government is as old as the hills and is as American as apple pie.
And most politicians become corrupt eventually by exposure to the dirty business that is politics.
They come to believe their own press that they can do no wrong, and then do as they please.
This includes on cheating on taxes or spouses, taking kickbacks and working under the table to promote the welfare of their friends, relatives and political supporters who contributed heavily to their campaigns.
This includes both the two major political parties and the myriad of lesser ones that think they are purer than everyone else.
They aren't. Corruption in politics is the norm.
Sheldon Silver going waltzing Matilda won't have much of an impact on 99.99% of the rest of us.
It only made for interesting reading.
Unfortunately, at least one of local politicians didn't read enough about it to keep his mouth shut.
Cheryl Dinolfo made her official announcement that she would be running for County Executive yesterday.
MCDC chairman Dave Garretson stated that Dinolfo typified the corruption of the Republican party and what was wrong with Monroe County.
What about the Democrats and Sheldon Silver, Dave?

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Ex Rochester police chief Jim Sheppard announced that he was running for the Monroe County Legislature today.
He is running for the seat being vacated by Paul Hainey because of term limits.
Of course, Sheppard is running as a Democrat.
And of course, Sheppard is part of the Morelle-Clifford-Duffy-Richards gang.
When Duffy unceremoniously dumped David Moore as police chief, he appointed Sheppard in his place. Richards kept Sheppard on during his ever so brief tenure as mayor.
Sheppard was best known for his smile, his inability to give straight answers to questions and not reducing crime in Rochester.
When Lovely Warren was elected mayor, she made it clear that she was not keeping Sheppard on, which effectively dumped him in turn.
Sheppard then resigned, too late to mean anything.
He has been at liberty ever since, which has given him time to practice his smile and plan his revenge.
The white elitist wing of the local Democrats is allowing him to run in one of the richest and whitest LDs in the City of Rochester.
It is window dressing to show how "liberal" they are and to recoup their tarnished image with black voters.
And to get back at the mayor, who is firmly entrenched in the opposing Democratic camp.
Smile for the cameras, Jim.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The D&C printed a letter from Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley today.
In a nutshell, Doorley begged voters to look at the person, not at their party.
This comes a few days after Doorley converted back to the Republican Party.
She won her office as a Democrat.
This has caused consternation within an already chaotic MCDC.
Such disorder is not helpful to candidates seeking to win county offices.
Political affiliation, like religious affiliation, is a matter of personal choice. Factors influencing choice may be sentimental, spiritual, emotional, true belief or pragmatism and expedience.
When an affiliation ceases to serve the needs of an individual, it's time to move on.
Duffy and Richards both changed their party affiliations to become mayor of Rochester.
Doorley's plea for "person before party" should be regarded as a call to reason.
Voters should choose the best candidate for a political office, not one with impeccable party credentials. All too often, such persons tend to be morons, but they have the inside track.
And here the primitive and infantile condition of dynasties also has its place.
Unfortunately, Doorley's statement is a stupid one because it ignores the reality of the political system, especially in Rochester and Monroe County.
Both parties claim that their candidates are the best persons for the job.
Those people who do vote tend to vote a straight ticket. It absolves them from having to think.
Neither political party wants people to think about candidates. Party discipline demands that people blindly follow the dictates of the party leadership.
In districts where one party has a clear numerical superiority over the other, they will demand loyalty.
Where they are in the minority, they beg people to vote for the person and not the party.
This has rarely, if ever, worked here.
Especially when both parties have demonized each other.
A statement calling for common sense among voters is stupid because the whole system is nonsensical.
Which is why most people able to vote don't. If one politician is the same as another, regardless of party affiliation, why bother?
They weren't expecting anything beneficial from any of them.
And Doorley?
She wants to be re-elected at any cost.
There are more registered Democrats in Monroe County than Republicans, not that this has helped the county Democrats.
The whiny statement of the MCDC upon her departure from their fold has convinced Doorley to make her appeal. To mitigate her pissing them off.
It was a good one. But it was stupid.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Right about now, Dave Garretson should be wondering why he was so desperate to become Monroe County Democratic Committee chairman.
In the scant three months since he was elected to that post, Garretson has presided over disaster.
Certainly, it has not been his fault.
Garretson inherited the situation from Joe Morelle. Morelle, far more clever and slicker than Garretson, saw the handwriting on the wall and announced that he would not run for re-election.
That left Garretson holding a very large, empty paper bag.
The Republicans regained control over the New York State senate; Democratic sacred cow Lulubelle Slaughter narrowly defeated a Republican unknown; and a few days ago District Attorney Sandra Doorley announced that she was changing her registration to Republican.
To be sure, Garretson wanted to be Democratic chairman. He claimed that he would be a unifying force in the party, which is hopelessly divided here.
Garretson has been no such thing. He clearly doesn't understand the Realpolitik of Monroe County in general and Rochester in particular.
The Republicans control the county towns; the Democrats, the City of Rochester and the town of Brighton.
Garretson's Town of Greece is overwhelmingly Republican. During his tenure as leader of the Greece Democrats, Garretson was unable to win any elected office for himself, nor was he able to run any victorious campaigns for other Greece Democrats.
In LD 7, which is mostly in Greece with a tiny slice in Rochester, Garretson couldn't even find a candidate to challenge the appointed Republican incumbent, a snot-nosed kid still wet behind the ears.
It is hard to see how his lack of leadership skills in his own backyard would translate to effective leadership in the county committee, especially with the political pendulum swinging to the right.
Worse is Garretson's lack of understanding of the Democratic Party's situation in Rochester.
Rochester Democrats are divided into two factions: the white, elitist Morelle-Clifford wing and the black Gantt-Warren wing. Racism, real but covert, is a factor in both wings.
Since Republicans are dead in the water in Rochester, the two Democratic factions are trying to destroy each other.
Garretson mistakenly claimed that he could unify the party. At the same time, he claimed he was a better candidate than another contender because the mayor didn't hate him. He was appealing to faction.
Mayor Warren never openly came out in support of Garretson.
Three months ago, when Garretson was elected as chairman, Gantt's supporters promptly walked out in protest before the votes were tallied.
Gantt, behaving like a spoiled brat, realized that he can never be the power behind the whole Democratic Committee, had to have his little temper tantrum.
Never mind the fact that there were two suburban black candidates for chairman.
This action reflected the racial division within the city Democrats.
Garretson owed his election to the white elitist wing of the party.
This was not a good start.
What is clear is that while Garretson is a jolly, likeable oaf, he is out of his element as chairman.
That can only benefit the Republicans.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Molly Clifford announced that she will be running for the northwest city council seat.
Big deal.
She's been angling for that position for over a year.
Clifford established her "residence" in Charlotte last January, in order to meet residency requirements.
Whether she really lives there is anyone's guess.
Clifford and boy-toy Ken Warner are two of the most divisive personalities in Rochester's Democratic party.
Leading the elitist wing of the party, she, Carla Palumbo and Cindy Kaleh control the northwest Democrats. Not because they are so good, which they are not. It's just that nobody ever had the balls to challenge them.
Carla Palumbo, the current incumbent, announced that she wouldn't run for re-election.
That has been an open secret for over a year.
It is also an open secret that she and Kaleh have been rooting for Clifford.
Clifford is best known for being on Duffy and Richards' city payroll; for screwing up NET so badly that Duffy had to create a new six figure job in the fire department for her; and for continuing to run Richards for mayor after he had been defeated by Lovely Warren in the Democratic primary in 2013.
That came with Clifford reiterating her Democratic "credentials," which need to be reviewed. Certainly, they are questionable.
The knuckleheads in her cheerleading squad will continue to shout that she has done so much good for Rochester.
She hasn't. Clifford has always been about Clifford, and has schemed and scammed to promote herself for years.
The sad fact is that there are no potential candidates to run against her.
Regardless, she won't get my vote

Monday, January 12, 2015

Every year is an election year for some office or another.
This year, the Rochester area will be concentrating on local offices.
The campaigns won't be very important, interesting or exciting.
That is because the results will be a foregone conclusion in most cases.
Monroe County is unequally divided into two camps: the Republicans, who control most of the county towns; and the Democrats, who control most of Rochester and Brighton.
Incumbents will be re-elected to office. In most cases they will be running unopposed.
In those cases where term limits apply, and the incumbent can't run again, someone from their own party will scarf up their seat.
Of course, this means that there won't be any changes, especially where the City of Rochester is concerned.
The city likes being flushed down the toilet.
The only new factor this year will be Dave Garretson, the recently elected chairman of the Monroe County Democratic Committee.
All Garretson will be providing is a new face.
As head of the Greece Democrats, he has been unable to win any elective office for himself, or run any successful election campaigns against Republicans for anyone else.
As a likeable oaf, he cannot provide any strong leadership for the Democrats this campaign season.

The County Executive Race.

Maggie Brooks has reached her term limit and can't run again. She will be succeeded by County Clerk Cheryl DiNolfo.
DiNolfo has long been understudying for the role.
Republican DiNolfo is prominent county-wide. The Democrats have nobody important or prominent to challenge her.
DiNolfo, a tiny woman, has great stature, which is evident when she marches in every parade wearing three-inch high pumps.
She will be a shoo-in ( or is it "shoe-in?" ) for the office come November.

The County Legislature.
All of the incumbents will win re-election, meaning Republicans will continue to be dominant in the County Legislature, but not having a "super majority" that would permit them to ignore Democrats entirely.
A loose-fitting stone in this structure is LD 26, which is mostly in Rochester with some slices of Greece and Gates thrown in.
It has always been a swing district, changing hands between Republicans and Democrats every few years.
Its current incumbent is a Republican, who won by the skin of his teeth in 2011.
MCDC chairman Garretson has no suitable candidate to challenge the incumbent with ( Garretson has no suitable candidates to challenge anyone with ), so the incumbent will probably win by default. The fact that the incumbent is a moron will not harm his chances for re-election.

Rochester City Council.
The district incumbents will all win re-election. They will not be opposed by Republican candidates whose party only concentrates on the suburbs now.
Nor does City council have term limits, which has allowed numerous morons to have a comfortable second job for as long as they want it.
The work is easy, a few hours per month, and they rarely show themselves to their constituents, except at election time.
They might have to fight other Democratic hopefuls during a primary election because the party is divided into two mutually antagonistic camps which hope to destroy each other.
They only question is in the Northwest district.
The rumor is that Carla Palumbo will not run for re-election. It was also rumored that she planned to resign this year and have longtime political ally Molly Clifford appointed to City Council and have her run for the office.
Molly Clifford has established residence in the Northwest, forsaking her expensive penthouse ( really? ) in downtown Rochester to meet eligibility requirements.
This was discussed in depth in the now defunct Smugtown Beacon.
That Clifford is a divisive factor in the Democratic committee is well known throughout Rochester, and her domineering elitism will be sure to provide an alternative candidate from the Gantt wing of the party to challenge her.
It will probably be the only interesting campaign this year.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

That's right.
James Lawrence will be given the keys to the city by Mayor Lovely Warren tomorrow at church.
Lawrence recently retired as editor of the local liberal newsrag, the Democrat and Chronicle.
He is most famous for promoting political correctness and 300 years of guilt for white folks.
His biases infected the Democrat and Chronicle for decades, resulting in a paper that nobody regards as impartial, or even very good.
Being the only daily newspaper left in Rochester helped, in that respect. It's the only game in town.
Lawrence is also behind "Unite Rochester," a series of articles that is a forum for black contributors to focus on the oppression they have suffered, and for pseudo-liberal whites with political aspirations to beat their chests and cry, not too convincingly, "mea culpa."
This is indeed keeping with the farce that the Democrat and Chronicle has become under Lawrence's guidance.
Indeed, that is why Mayor Warren finds it necessary to reward Lawrence with the keys to the city.
The keys to the city is the highest award a mayor can bestow upon someone.
That award is supposed to be given only rarely, and only to those individuals whose actions have benefitted the City of Rochester over a period of years.
Lawrence has done no such thing. He has been a divisive figure in Rochester's political and social landscape
He did instruct his paper to overlook the mortal sins and fatal flaws of the Warren Administration.
Whether that was from liberal bias or black solidarity, I leave it for you to decide.
Mayor Warren has cheapened this award by handing it out left and right since she took office, mostly to her cheerleaders, people connected to David Gantt's clique, and to those luminaries belonging to one of the "two cities" of Rochester, not of the whole city.
In this, Lawrence may be deemed a suitable recipient of the keys to the city handed out by Mayor Warren.

Friday, January 9, 2015

The figures have come in and the verdict is out.
After forty years of Democratic misrule, Rochester, New York, is now the poorest city of its size in the entire US of A.
Coupled with the fact that we have the worst school system in New York State and one of the worst in the country, we are clearly up Shit Creek without a paddle.
This is one thing you can't pin on the Warren Administration.
Truly, Warren Administration has enough mortal sins and fatal flaws in its makeup to answer for, but they inherited this mess from previous incompetent and inept mayors.
The downward slide in Rochester's fortunes goes back more than twenty years, to the Johnson Administration.
This subject has been covered in depth elsewhere, so only a brief summation will be offered here.
Rochester's prosperity was based on heavy industry. The change in technology resulted in heavy industry being discontinued, with tens of thousands of jobs in those areas being eliminated.
The precipitous decline of Kodak, Rochester's sacred cow and largest employer, and the ripple effect it was producing was evident during the 1990s.
The Johnson Administration, a less than creative bunch, chose to ignore it and concentrate on enjoying themselves. It was more fun to have fun than come up with any definite plans for Rochester's future.
Mayor Johnson himself was concerned with creating his legacy, which has proved disastrous, and amassing a fortune, at which he was much more successful.
It also raised the spectre of racism here.
Critics of the Johnson Administration were branded as racists, which helped muffle his opponents in the city, at least.
After twelve years, Johnson was succeeded as mayor by his endorsed candidate Bob Duffy.
Duffy promptly double-crossed Johnson on the subject of political appointments and began to dismantle Johnson's ill-devised memorials to himself.
Rochester's economic decline was clearly evident then. Rochester was making the national poverty and poor school performance lists.
Duffy substituted his height and folksy charm for policy, which accomplished nothing for Rochester, but it convinced him that he was in way over his head and beyond his capabilities.
He fled for Albany at the first opportunity, where his ineptitude was so conspicuous that he did not seek to remain on Andrew Cuomo's ticket in 2014.
Duffy's hand-picked successor, Tom Richards, was a willow the wisp. Labeled as a "progressive," he was no such thing. Rochester's fortunes continued to decline ( Duffy proved to be of no help in Albany whatsoever ) because he inherited Duffy's do nothing administration.
The few jobs he created did not counter the massive job losses that continued to occur in Rochester because even he had no clear-cut program to grow business here.
Rochester continued to decline during Richards' brief tenure as mayor, and he was ousted in 2013.
That's where Lovely Warren comes in. She inherited more than twenty years of neglect.
While her administration hasn't accomplished anything visibly beneficial yet, and it has been barely a year since she took office, she, personally, has her share of blame to bear for the sad state of Rochester. She was in city government for 6 years before becoming mayor, as a city councilor and then city council president.
They came up with nothing to turn the city around, and have no sense of shame about anything.
The big question is, is it too late to turn the city around? Especially a city that has been neglected for decades and where the only evident policies are political correctness and reverse racism?

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Ex New York State governor Mario Cuomo died last week.
Big deal.
Hundreds of thousands of people die every day. All they might get is a few lines in a paid-for obituary in the local newspaper.
Not so with Mario Cuomo.
The liberal news media found it necessary to inundate us with stories about the virtues of Cuomo pere to suck up to Cuomo fils.
Cuomo fils is the current governor of New York State.
It was all rather nauseating.
Mario Cuomo was governor of New York State until twenty years ago. He helped make it easier for hard working people, college graduates seeking employment and senior citizens living on fixed incomes leave New York State by making it too expensive to live here.
He accomplished this by raising taxes that already existed, and by creating new taxes.
It is the usual bleeding heart liberal agenda to balance budgets by increasing taxes and fees. That it drives people out of the state doesn't concern them.
Perhaps that's why the bleeding heart liberal media found it necessary to unduly praise Cuomo after his death. Achieving "equality" by a leveling of classes rather than by constitutional or educational growth is the goal of the press.
Paradoxically, even the bleeding heart liberals have their elites as well, like the Cuomos.
American are a silly people. We make fun of European dynasties, of empires, kingdoms and principalities, yet we fall over ourselves to keep abreast of every bit of gossip about them.
Failing true royalty here, we create our own, whether they are the super wealthy, celebrities or politicians.
Even our politicians love to trace their backgrounds to some king somewhere in time.
That includes our presidents.
Most politicians would love to create dynasties here, too, of their families.
Cuomo fils was previously married to a member of the Kennedy dynasty of tarnished "Camelot" fame.
So was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Picture it: the governors of New York and California as in-laws.
The same is true here.
The Morelles, senior and junior, are elected officials here and powerful in government, from which Morelle senior's sister had derived enormous profit from public funds at her job.
Molly Clifford, bête noir of the David Gantt wing of the local Democratic Party, cites her mother as one of her credentials.
They like to claim that this is a family tradition of public service.
It's hogwash.
Success in politics guarantees politicians personal access to wealth, power, influence and celebrity. You don't have to be a great politician or even a very good one to achieve it. Just continue to get elected.
Bob Duffy is the best local example of this.
And stupid voters buy into this crap. Just like they rush out of they way to bow and curtsey to broken down royals from long disappeared kingdoms.
Mario Cuomo is dead.
He accomplished nothing to prevent the downward slide of New York State. He was no miracle man. But not according to the papers, or the pronouncements of his son about him.
His death might be a tragedy to his nearest and dearest.
For me it was "Too bad, but what is that supposed to mean to me."
It means that the liberal media will be padding their papers with bullshit about him.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Someone once said that the last refuge of scoundrels is politics.
Sometimes, religion is that refuge.
Clerical collars, vestments and habits all seem to imbue the wearers with some sort of protection against being called out as the scoundrels they really are.
These people count on the masses fearing God enough to allow them to have their way with us.
We might grumble, but they count on us keeping our mouths shut at their antics because they are "serving God."
Or so they say.
Our country has no "established" religion. Religious practices are permitted to everyone who chooses to observe them.
On the other hand, there is a tacit belief in the separation of church and state, although it is nowhere to be found in the Constitution.
Church properties are tax free. That ranges from majestic cathedrals to store front ministries with very esoteric names. The longer and more elaborate the name, the smaller the congregation.
In return, the clergy is not supposed to interfere in government or politics.
They are not supposed to preach politics from the pulpit.
"Not supposed to."
Plenty of them do, especially during Lovely Warren's campaign for mayor.
Yet nobody threatened those same churches with the loss of their tax exempt status because they were afraid of being branded racist or anti-religious.
It is even more entertaining when the clergy lies through its teeth, or at least refuses to mention the whole truth of a matter.
Enter Sister Grace Miller.
Sister Grace has long been a fixture on the Rochester political scene. She has been a royal pain in the ass to the Republican dominated County Legislature for years.
Well, at least that puts some color into the Republican county legislators' cheeks.
Her antics haven't prevented the Republicans from gaining and keeping control of the County Legislature, which means that they have long learned not to take Sister Grace seriously. Her prayers at the start of each monthly public meeting are seen more as comedy relief than anything approaching a threat.
That might be one reason so many people have stopped going to church.
The minority Democrats, on the other hand, are scared to death of her. Opposing Sister Grace might threaten their bleeding heart liberal credentials.
Lately, Sister Grace has taken up the cause of the homeless in Rochester.
With the advent of Mayor Warren, Sister Grace now seeks to play off the city and the county.
Sister Grace runs "Mercy House" on Hudson Avenue. She has done so for years, with no seeming improvement to the lives of the people who stay there. It is a flop house for alcoholics, drug users and prostitutes. It offers no programs to help those unfortunates to straighten out their lives. They can remain safe under her wing while still indulging in their acts of self-destruction.
Most of them are eligible for treatment programs and housing allowance from the county.
This is what Sister Grace refuses to mention when stirring up sympathy for them. She wants the world to believe that there is no help for these lost souls.
There is, but they have to want to give up drugs, booze and hooking.
This they won't do.
It is the same with "Sanctuary Village" and the county garage at the court house.
Sister Grace wants the city to find a house for the homeless to continue their drug use, their drinking and their turning tricks until they are "ready" to seek help.
In short, allow them to continue doing what the rest of us would be arrested for, with the city and the county turning a blind eye to it.
Apparently "Mercy House" isn't big enough.
But it is odd that the homeless Sister Grace is championing this season have enough money for alcohol, cigarettes and drugs, which the city discovered when the Department of Environmental Services went to clear out "Sanctuary Village."
The homeless were offered hotel rooms, but they preferred to remain free of restrictions.
Apparently, they didn't want to go to "Mercy House," either.
Last week, our local newsrag, the D&C printed an opinion from a suburban reader that Sister Grace should win an award for all of the fine work she is doing.
You've got to be kidding.

Friday, January 2, 2015

Locally, Republican resurgence has been more subtle.
That is because it has occurred behind the backdrop of the continued fratricidal strife within the Monroe County Democratic Committee. It has been an endless source of mirth for those of us who no longer take most politicians seriously.
The combatants are the elitist, pseudo-liberal Morelle-Clifford faction of the party, opposing the black oriented Gantt-Warren clique.
The split was best illustrated by the mayoral election of 2013.
Lovely Warren won the Democratic primary election. Joe Morelle, then chairman of the MCDC, was downright bitter after her victory, and less than gracious during the remainder of the campaign. Molly Clifford and her boy-toy Ken Warner continued to support Tom Richards, who was on the ballot as the Independent candidate.
Warren won, and many people questioned whether or not Morelle was fit to remain as Democratic chairman, given his behavior during the campaign.
Amid such criticism, Morelle chose not to run for re-election as chairman, and the race was on to grab his tarnished crown from the gutter.
Dave Garretson, leader of the Democrats in the Town of Greece ( where Republicans are dominant ), won the chairmanship.
Dave Garretson needs all of the introduction he can get.
A friendly, likeable oaf, Garretson never won an elected office in the Town of Greece, nor had any Democratic candidates he ever supported won, either. He knows nothing about the power-politics within Rochester other than the Democratic Party controls the city.
The Democrats also control the Town of Brighton.
It has been said that Brighton, with its large Jewish population, would more easily elect an Adolf Hitler with a "D" in front of his name rather than a Moses with an "R."
That statement might be vile, but vileness doesn't make it any less true.
Within weeks of winning the chairmanship, it was evident to all that Garretson had been left holding a very large, empty paper bag.
Democrat Ted O'Brien lost his state senate seat to Republican Rich Funke, giving the Republicans control of that body.
It could hardly have been otherwise.
In 2012, O'Brien only won against Republican Sean Hanna because people personally disliked Hanna, not because O'Brien was the better candidate.
In office, O'Brien wasn't very convincing.
In 2014, O'Brien's handlers resurrected their campaign against Hanna, only Funke wasn't Hanna, and their methods didn't work this time. Moreover, they forgot that the state senate seat in question had been Republican for years, and O'Brien's election to it in 2012 was the anomaly.
Even more telling was the case of Democratic Congresswoman Lulubelle Slaughter. She had been in Congress for three or four thousand years without accomplishing anything for this area. That didn't stop the Democrats from making her a sacred cow and elevating her to sainthood.
"Saint" Louise was opposed by a Republican dark horse, Mark Assini from the Town of Gates.
Assini was an unknown quantity, hardly supported by the county GOP and underfunded, yet it took a count of absentee ballots to determine that Lulubelle won re-election on by a scant six hundred votes.
It catapulted Assini to national prominence even if he lost the election campaign. And if the county GOP had been really supportive of Assini, he would have sent Lulubelle packing.
That fact has been a source of embarrassment to "Saint" Louise, and even Democrats are questioning whether or not it is time for her to pack it in.
As I have stated, Republican resurgence in this area has been subtle.
A second Republican state senator from this area has given Republicans control of the state senate; a new Republican star was narrowly defeated by a Democratic sacred cow; and the Democrats have saddled themselves with a chairman who really doesn't know what he is doing.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Happy New Year 2015.
The Republican Party will control the United States Congress this session.
They have been moving in that direction since the mid term elections during President Barack Obama's first term in office. That is how the long the pendulum has been swinging to the right
As a lame duck president in his second and final term in office, Obama reaped what he has sown: the visible lack of confidence of the American people in his administration.
Obama earned it.
The 2014 elections revealed that rather than unify a sense of purpose among Americans, the Obama administration has divided American politics to a degree not seen in decades. Americans refused to elect candidates who were linked to Obama by party affiliation.
The riots in Ferguson had some responsibility in this respect, frightening non-black Americans into reacting against a half-black president and his supporters.
Yet choosing Republican candidates over Democratic ones might not have been the smartest move, either.
Andreas Rau, formerly the Rochester blogger for the local Democrat and Chronicle, once stated that every virtue under heaven was not to be found in either or any political party.
That's true enough.
There are good candidates from both parties, though both choose to deny that. Unfortunately, both parties prefer to choose attractive, rich candidates with familial, political and financial connections rather than those who are fit for office.
Money can buy anything.
That is the fatal flaw in American politics, which both major parties decry but refuse to do anything about.
Even more fatal is the need to create candidates to fit certain interest groups.
Which brings us back to Barack Obama.
The three pillars that the Obamanation were built upon were the black community; their indispensable allies, the bleeding heart white liberals ( and the gay community falls into this category ); and the incredible knack of the national Republican Committee to choose absolute morons to run against Obama in the presidential elections.
These pillars were powerful enough to propel Obama into the Presidency, but not great enough to provide a national policy that would benefit America as a whole, only for segments of it.
"Obamacare" ( that is to say "The Affordable Health Care Act" ) was a failure. It did not provide for universal health care in America. It merely imposed penalties on those who didn't have health care insurance ( the penalties cost more than the health care they couldn't afford as it was ), while raising prices for those people who were already insured.
Republicans called it socialist without knowing the meaning of the word, failing to realize that the inherent flaws in Obamacare would cause dissatisfaction.
Moderates began to desert to the right in 2010.
Obama himself can be blamed for people losing faith in his star.
He walked into the Presidency arrogant and counting on political correctness to protect him. It didn't. He was dealing with Republican elected officials who were certain of their constituencies, and had no need to molly coddle him to get re-elected.
He refused even to show a copy of birth certificate for months after his election, which made even uninterested parties wonder what he was hiding.
Obama DID win the Noble Peace Prize within months of being elected to the Presidency. He did nothing to deserve such an award, which was perhaps given to him in recognition of his being the first mulatto elected President of the United States, rather than fostering world wide peace.
Of course, he refused to get us out of existing wars in Asia, and Americans died under orders from this peace prize winning president.
In the long run, his three pillars did not prevent him losing Congress to the Republicans. They will probably increase their numbers in 2016, the next Presidential election.
Failing the choice of yet another moron as a candidate, the Republicans will probably win the Presidency in 2016 and dismantle the Obamanation.
That will be the inevitable result of the pendulum swinging to the right.